The Violet Hour (X-Men AU)

12: Intoxication

  He held up a bottle, "Do you want a drink? Come over here, I have choices." Up we go. I stood up and walked over, my arms hugging my ribcage as I bent down next to him. "Okay, so I have a regular beer that is disgusting. I have a feeling you're one of those sophisticated women and you drink wine and I don't have that, but the closest I have to fruit is this and it tastes like carbonated lemonade but it hits hard." 

    "I will take that," I took it gingerly and read over the label and gasping at the alcohol percentage. "Are you trying to get me drunk, Peter? Holy shit this is a lot in one bottle."

   "Trying to get myself drunk, it's a lot more fun when I'm not the only one." He stood up and zipped back to the couch, cracking open one of his bottles before freezing and looking at me.  "Are you okay with that?"

 I just laughed, "It's fine. I've never had alcohol with anyone but my mother so this could be... fun. I'll probably get you to spill all of your deepest, darkest, secrets." I took my place back on the end of his couch and he tossed me the bottle opener. My heart beat a little fast-  I was never interested in leisurely drunkenness and here I was with Peter about to do and partake in exactly that. Maybe I was nervous to not be in control. Without control... It was a little scary. 

"Hey, Venus, you don't have to drink with me. I don't have to drink at all." He set down his bottle and turned sideways to face me, his expression understanding. This was his idea of laid-back fun... I stared at the bottle in my hand. I was different now, I actually could do things normal teenagers would do because I had a friend. God, it sounded so cliche and so awful, but drinking with a friend was something I'd wanted to do since the idea of it crossed my mind. So without thinking twice, I took a swig from the bottle. 

   He looked impressed until I coughed at the burn of it. "Holy shit, you said this was like fizzy lemonade-" I coughed into my arm. He just drank from his bottle with a smile. "This is like... HARD lemonade..." More coughing, but at least I did it. I chuckled a bit to myself. 

     "Thought you read the label," he gave a sideways glance and took another sip of his. Maybe I'd just have a little more and then end it there so I could be comfortably fuzzy. 

    "I did, it just... As you said, I usually drink wine." I slipped down onto the couch cushion and slid my legs next to him. I dared myself to take another sip and felt him watching. I scrunched my nose and giggled exasperatedly, "I would have more confidence in drinking if you weren't staring me down!" 

   "I'm sorry, I like your hair." Was his reply. "But it's in your face and we can't have that." He reached right across the couch to push my hair out of my face. He'd never done that so... forwardly. 

      I narrowed my eyes at him, tucking my hair behind my ears. "Are you drunk already? There's no way..." 

"You're thinking speed makes sense. Blah blah, alcohol into my blood and therefore I get hammered faster, but it's kind of exactly that but the opposite effect. I just have super high alcohol tolerance, not to brag or anything. It's a bitch at parties, though." He shrugged and sat back, tilting the bottle so he could drink the last of it. He was at the bottom of his bottle already? Oh, that's right. Speed. 

    "So it's a metabolism thing. I wish I had that. I'd eat cake for breakfast." I swirled the drink around the bottle and took down another sip. It burned, but it tasted like lemonade and fire, so I suppose it wasn't as bad as beer and its yeasty smell. Looking at the bottle in Peter's hand I saw it wasn't beer, it was ginger beer. That's why the yeast smell wasn't in the air.

     Thoughts off track already? Something told me I was done with the bottle and I sat it on the coffee table. Fuzzy was okay enough. Anything more and I'd be unpredictable and uncontrolled. Blinking to recalibrate, Peter just laughed. "You've never had anything this hard ever?"